KENPO GIRL

The Summer Olympics happens every 4 years...

​For some sports it is considered the pinnacle of competitions and an honor to represent not only their sport but their country. Many of the Martial Arts systems are not represented in the Olympics however Martial Artists still look forward to watching the wrestling, judo and Taekwondo. ​

While tuning in and watching these systems might not seem like such a big deal; not only does it show support for the athletes but it’s supporting Martial Arts being in the Olympics. Most spectators recognize the challenge to qualify as an athlete to compete in the Olympics but what spectators don’t realize is how challenging it is as not only to qualify a sport but to keep it recognized.​

Wrestling is one of the oldest sports in the Olympics.

Yes... That old.

It was introduced in the Ancient games in 708 BC. Yet in the 1900 Summer Olympics, wrestling was not recognized. It wouldn’t be until the next summer Olympics that the Freestyle Wrestling would be reintroduced and have weight classes established. The sport was becoming further established when in 2004 women’s wrestling would be introduced.

Yet things took a turn for the worst.

The 2013 IOC or International Olympic Committee voted to remove wrestling starting with the 2020 Olympics.​

How could that be?

It all comes down to money. The IOC had been under pressure to reduce events and athletes in each Summer Olympics do to the cost to host such events. The IOC started a program pertaining to “core sports”. “Core Sports” would be protected and continue in the Olympics, but the “non-core sports” would slowly be phased out. ​

Even after the program was implicated it still didn’t help, so after the London Olympics they re-evaluated the “core sports” again, reviewing studies and results of the London Olympics.

​In 2013 the IOC Executive Board recommended wrestling be dropped.​

The United World Wrestling immediately responded,

“We were greatly astonished by today’s recommendation of the IOC Executive Board not to maintain wrestling among the 25 core sports for the 2020 Olympic Games. We will take all necessary measures to convince the IOC Executive Board and IOC members of the aberration of such decision against one of the founding sports of the ancient and modern Olympic Games.”​

Athletes would still be able to compete in the World Games but the United States wrestlers feared losing the chance of ever competing for Gold again. Wrestling and 7 other sports including Karate were reviewed as “non-core” sports, but wrestling was one of the very few that came out triumphant.

Nenad Lalovic, President of the UWW stated,

"Normally this is done in a few years, we did it in a few months. It was a question of our survival. We did all we could, we changed our sport and the federation was successful. We continue to work tomorrow.”

​​Some of the sports literally had to fight to be recognized.

Taekwondo started striving for the Olympics in 1974. In 1975 it was accepted for the World Games which is an international competition that recognizes non-Olympic sports. In the 1988 Korean Olympics and the 1992 Barcelona Spain Olympics it was a demonstration sport. At this time Taekwondo was already recognized by the World Cup, The Asian Games, All-Africa Games, and the Pan American Games but the Olympics wouldn’t accept it until the 2000 Sydney Australia Olympics.

One of the requirements to become an Olympic Sport is

To have a recognized international committee that oversees the sport, thus ensuring all athletes are competing under the same rules and regulations.

Tragically over the years it has been almost impossible to unite the organizations.

In 1970 the World Union of Karate-do Organizations was created, but it wouldn’t be until 1985 that the OIC would recognize the organization as the official board of karate.

At this point of time the World Union of Karate-do Organization or WUKO, attempted to unify with the International Traditional Karate Federation (ITKF) to form the World Karate Federation, in hopes to finally become an Olympic Sport. The union was unsuccessful, causing the IOC to suspend its recognition of WUKO. When the union was unsuccessful the WUKO created the World Karate Federation or WKF.

​It was finally in 2016, in Rio de Janeiro that the IOC announced that Karate would be a recognized and participating sport in the 2020 Summer Olympic Games in Tokyo, Japan

​​The politics and drama associated with organized sports can be trying at times. ​

Karate has had multiple organizations dating all the way back to 1961, yet because of our inability to unify and work together hundreds if not thousands of Karate enthusiasts have had to wait 59 years before being able to compete in the Olympics.

​As a Kenpoist, I tend to view my system more as a self-defense system rather than a sporting system like Judo. Nonetheless, I always find myself watching the Judo, the Taekwondo and the Wrestling because these athletes are not just representing their sport and country…

​They are representing our community.

Let's not forget a community is defined as a feeling of fellowship with others, as a result of sharing common attitudes, interests, and goals.

​It’s another 4 years before the next Olympic Games and the Karate Community is already buzzing about the Tokyo Games and we should be happy for them because it has taken so many years and so much dedication to reach this point.

​But let’s not forget, it’s not guaranteed that the Martial Arts will continue in the Olympics…

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Jesalyn Mae Harper

Hello my name is Jesalyn. I'm a divorced single mom and a karate addict...I am currently a 1st Brown belt in American Kenpo and a Junior Instructor at Double Dragon Kenpo Karate under JR Diaz, I am part of the Parker/Planas Lineage and study Karbaroan Eskrima with JR Diaz, under Guro Ed Planas